House Republicans want to make it clear Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks is a successful incumbent congresswoman in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, to preempt any Democratic effort at overturning her razor-thin 2020 win and ousting her from Congress.
That strategy involves showcasing Miller-Meeks’s work in the House proposing legislation and working on behalf of constituents. Even as she fends off a challenge in the House Administration Committee from Democratic rival Rita Hart, whom she beat in November by six votes out of more than 394,000 cast.
The Iowa Canvassing Board ratified the result, making it one of the closest races in House history. Hart skipped legal options in Iowa and instead appealed directly to the House to review, and hopefully for her, change the result. Hart claims 22 ballots were excluded in the final tally in error, which, if counted, would have made her the winner.
Nevertheless, Miller-Meeks was sworn in and seated with the rest of the freshmen members of her class on Jan. 3 and started working with both Republicans and Democrats in the chamber.
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Since then, the Iowa Republican has built relationships on Capitol Hill through her caucuses and committees, cementing herself in as Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District representative.
Miller-Meeks serves on the House GOP Doctors Caucus and the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, the Committee on Homeland Security, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and the Committee on Education and Labor. Miller-Meeks traveled with the Republican House delegation to the southern border recently and has introduced legislation that would mandate a negative COVID-19 test before any illegal immigrant arrivals are released from custody.
Miller-Meeks has “really put her head down and hasn’t worried about the politics of this race and the possibility that the Democrats come after her seat. She hasn’t let that bother her,” said Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois, the top Republican on the House Administration Committee. “She’s dealt with that and, on the other hand, has become one of the most judicious and also the most active members of her freshman class.”
Miller-Meeks served in the Army for 24 years and earned the rank of lieutenant colonel prior to returning to the private sector and opening a private medical practice. She is a member of four bipartisan caucuses, including the Pandemic Preparedness Caucus, where she is a co-chair. And she has co-sponsored at least a dozen pieces of bipartisan legislation.
Davis is warning House Democrats against unseating Miller-Meeks in favor of Hart, a move that would pad the party’s narrow majority. In the 435-member chamber, there are now 219 Democrats, 211 Republicans, and five vacancies.
“I think they realize that any last bastion of bipartisanship would be destroyed, based upon the fact that the Democratic majority would have led the charge to expel an already active sworn-in member of Congress, who many of them are working with right now,” Davis told the Washington Examiner.
Some House Democrats have made clear they’re not on-board with efforts to unseat Miller-Meeks in favor of Hart. Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips recently became the first congressional Democrat to voice firm opposition to it, and several of his party colleagues followed.
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“I’ve got to give some of my Democratic colleagues a lot of kudos for having the courage to stand up and say to their leadership what is right and what is wrong,” Davis said.
